Feeding Habitat Selection by Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets Nesting in East Central Minnesota

Custer, Christine M.; Galli, Joan

doi:10.1675/1524-4695(2002)025[0115:fhsbgb]2.0.co;2

Cited by 29 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Our direct observations also found that Great egrets achieved higher food intake rates in organic fields than in conventional ones (Katayama, Murayama, & Mashiko, ). Considering that egrets and herons during their breeding seasons are known to fly long distances for foraging (often >10 km: Custer & Galli, ), the benefits of organic farming on waterbirds may be even greater at larger spatial scales than that at the block scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic farming and associated management practices benefit multiple wildlife taxa: A large‐scale field study in rice paddy landscapes

Katayama

Osada

Mashiko

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Organic farming has potential for the conservation of global biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Despite this, knowledge of the effects of organic farming systems on farmland biodiversity is limited in Asia, the worldwide leader in rice production.2. We conducted the first national-scale study to investigate the effects of three different rice farming systems (conventional, low-input and organic) and specific management practices (e.g. herbicide and insecticide applications, crop rotation and levee-vegetation management) on species richness and abundance of multiple taxonomic groups (plants, invertebrates, Pelophylax and Hyla japonica frogs, cobitid loaches and birds) in Japan during 2013-2015.3. Organic fields supported the highest richness and abundance of several taxonomic groups (native/Red List plants, Tetragnatha spiders, Sympetrum dragonflies and Pelophylax frogs), followed by low-input and conventional fields. We also found taxon-specific responses to specific management practices. For instance, plant richness and Tetragnatha and Sympetrum abundance increased with reduced herbicide and/or insecticide applications. Sympetrum and cobitid loach abundance increased in the absence of crop rotation, whereas H. japonica abundance increased with crop rotation. Pelophylax abundance increased with an increased height of levee vegetation.4. At spatial scales larger than single fields, waterbird richness and abundance were positively correlated with the proportion of organic rice fields, presumably due to increased prey abundance. Meanwhile, landbird richness and abundance were positively associated with annual precipitation and annual mean temperature, suggesting that such climate increases food availability. Synthesis and applications.We highlight the positive effects of organic and low-input farming for biodiversity relative to conventional farming in rice paddies. We also provide the scientific basis of the current agri-environmental schemes in Japan, subsidising organic and low-input farming for biodiversity. The | 1971 Journal of Applied Ecology KATAYAMA eT Al. Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article. How to cite this article: Katayama N, Osada Y, Mashiko M, et al. Organic farming and associated management practices benefit multiple wildlife taxa: A large-scale field study in rice paddy landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic farming and associated management practices benefit multiple wildlife taxa: A large‐scale field study in rice paddy landscapes

Katayama

Osada

Mashiko

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…For this purpose, we defined the area around a colony as that formed by a circle, with a radius of 20 km, centered over the colony. Although there are exceptions (Shepherd et al ., 1991), the majority of wading birds nesting at a site typically forage within 20 km of the colony (Smith, 1995; Custer & Galli, 2002; Custer, Suarez & Olsen, 2004).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of waterbird colonies in southern Louisiana to recent drought and hurricanes

Leberg

Green

Adams

et al. 2007

Animal Conservation

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Although hurricanes have been implicated in causing shifts in waterbird use of individual colonies, little is known about whether or not these effects are consistent across broader areas affected by a storm. We examined the effects of Hurricane Rita, and to a lesser extent Katrina, and a subsequent drought, on the nesting activity of waterbirds across colonies located in southern Louisiana. Using ground counts, we compared changes in numbers of nesting pairs between 2005 and 2006, the years encompassing the hurricanes and drought, with changes between 2004 and 2005. Following the hurricanes, colonies were more likely to become inactive or experience large shifts in numbers of nesting pairs, compared with the period before the hurricanes. Although one third of the surveyed colonies became inactive following the hurricanes, total numbers of nesting birds of most species increased. We hypothesize that these increases were the result of birds shifting from damaged to active colonies. Colony use was negatively associated with the maximum wind speeds experienced at each site, apparently as a result of damage to nesting habitat. There were no associations of colony use with either storm-related flooding or localized rainfall during the drought; however, this may be due to manipulation of water levels by management agencies. Our results suggest that monitoring colonies over a broad area is necessary to understand the influence of hurricanes on the nesting activity of waterbirds.

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“…We calculated the nearest distance from each colony to human development, as well as the percent composition of the land use type associated with human infrastructure within an 8.95 km buffer of the colony. We based the buffer distance on the average foraging distances from colonies that were reported for herons in eastern North America [90][91][92][93][94][95] . To determine the percent composition of human development for each colony we combined the low intensity development land class (endpoint class 2) and high intensity development land class (endpoint class 3) and calculated the total percent cover of the combined layer within the buffer.…”

Section: Alternative Defensive Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship

Gabel

Frederick

Zabala

2021

Sci Rep

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Positive ecological relationships, such as facilitation, are an important force in community organization. The effects of facilitative relationships can be strong enough to cause changes in the distributions of species and in many cases have evolved as a response to predation pressure, however, very little is known about this potential trend in vertebrate facilitative relationships. Predation is an important selective pressure that may strongly influence breeding site selection by nesting birds. The American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) facilitates a safer nesting location for wading birds (Ciconiiformes and Pelecaniformes) by deterring mammalian nest predators from breeding sites. However, alligators do not occur throughout the breeding range of most wading birds, and it is unclear whether alligator presence affects colony site selection. We predicted that nesting wading birds change colony site preferences when alligators are not present to serve as nest protectors. Within the northern fringe of alligator distribution we compared colony characteristics in locations where alligator presence was either likely or unlikely while controlling for availability of habitat. Wading birds preferred islands that were farther from the mainland and farther from landmasses > 5 ha when alligator presence was unlikely compared to when alligators were likely. These findings indicate that wading birds are seeking nesting locations that are less accessible to mammalian predators when alligators are not present, and that this requirement is relaxed when alligators are present. This study illustrates how a landscape-scale difference between realized and fundamental niche can result from a facilitative relationship in vertebrates.

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Feeding Habitat Selection by Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets Nesting in East Central Minnesota

Cited by 29 publications

References 14 publications

Organic farming and associated management practices benefit multiple wildlife taxa: A large‐scale field study in rice paddy landscapes

Organic farming and associated management practices benefit multiple wildlife taxa: A large‐scale field study in rice paddy landscapes

Response of waterbird colonies in southern Louisiana to recent drought and hurricanes

Alligator presence influences colony site selection of long-legged wading birds through large scale facilitative nest protector relationship

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